The attorney general may issue contempt proceedings against newspapers over their coverage of the suspects in the Soham murder case, a leading media lawyer has warned.

Despite the attorney general's warning to newspaper editors issued last Friday, the News of the World and the People published articles at the weekend featuring background information about the sex lives of Ian Huntley and Maxine Carr.

Mr Huntley has been charged with the murder of schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, while Ms Carr, his girlfriend, has been charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice.

"From the coverage I've read there's a very real chance the attorney general will institute proceedings against one or more newspapers, which could result in quite severe penalties for editors and publishers," said Martin Cruddace.

Mr Cruddace, a partner in Schillings solicitors, is the former head of Mirror Group Newspapers' legal department and lectures in contempt to other media lawyers.

"If nothing else he needs to send out a message now that background reporting should be kept for post-verdict and not for post-arrest," added Mr Cruddace.

"I think competition between newspapers is such that they try to write all the stuff that would normally be kept for background as quickly as possible.

"It's a formidable hurdle to establish a prosecution for contempt because the trial is some way off and the jury will be told by the judge to ignore all press coverage.

"However, sometimes coverage can be so sensational and unrelenting as to make it impossible for a jury to ignore what's being reported. Especially because this case has been watched closely by everybody."

Last week the attorney general sent a notice to editors reminding them they had an obligation "not to engage in conduct, nor to publish material - including comment - that may create a substantial risk of serious prejudice to the course of justice in these prosecutions".

Under the terms of the Contempt of Court Act 1981, once a person has been charged with an offence, newspapers must not publish anything that could be prejudicial to his or her trial.

The crown prosecution service has drawn specific examples of press coverage of the case to the attention of the attorney general and he is currently considering them, the statement added.

Background material published before high-profile trials has, on several occasons, fuelled defence solicitors' arguments that their client cannot get a fair hearing.

The attorney general's office declined to comment on individual cases.